Transmission mechanism.



H. CAVE.

TRANSMISSION MEGHAHISM.

APPLIOATION rILnn my a, 1907.

Patented Nov. 3,1908.

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TRANSMISSION MECHANISM.

APPLIUATIUN FILED MAY 9, 1907.

Patented Nov. 3, 1908.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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H. GAVE.

TBANSMISSIDN MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 9, 1907.

902,856. Patented Nov. 3, 1908.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

fiw attaining HENRY CAVE, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

TRAN EMISSION ME CHANISH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. e, 1009.

Application filed May 9, 1907. Serial No. 872,722.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY CAVE, a subect of Great Britain, residing atthe city of rovidepce, in the county of Providence and State of RhodeIsland, have invented certain new and useful Im rovements inTransmission Mechanism, which the following is a specification,reference being had therein to t e accompanying drawing.

,This invention relates to transmission mechanism for motor drivenvehicles, and has for its object to provide a simple and effective meansfor varying the s eed ratio between the motor and the road w eels.

A further object is to obtain a great reduction without the use of lar egear wheels, in such a manner that the higher speeds shall be obtainedby transmitting the power through a minimum number of gears, thusreducing the frictional loss to a minimum, and stil retain the highratio for the low speed.

Myimproved transmission system is a coinbination of the planetary andthe individual clutch systems, in which the good points of both areretained and the disadvantages of each are entirely obviated. .T hissystem may be used in any kind of motor driven vehicle but the stylehere shown and described-is'inorc particularly ada ted for heavy truckwork in which a doub e reduction is'ordinarily required on the lowgears.

This system has many advantages over the slide gear system, among othersbeing that the mechanism may be readily shifted from one s eed to theother by the action of a hand over, without the use of a foot lever, theshift being made throu h the medium of clutches instead of by s idinggears; the power may also be disconnected by means of a foot 0 eratedlever without the addition of a specia clutch for that purpose, thusrendermg it possible to disconnect the power struction the mechanism mayB this cone thrown quickly from am one speed to an other without fear ofama e, which is 0 course im ssible in thessli' e goal system where suc ashift would be apt to strip the ears. One essential feature of my deviceis t at a V is employed in combination with the individual c utch s stemwhereby a low velocity of ears and re ative rotating parts-is obtaine*The difference in speed of the driving shaftand the without the. use ofthe hands.

reversev driving pinionin the ordinary indi-= vidual clutch system isvery excessive, which excessive speed is entirely obviated in thepresent construction. By the use of this system the low gear and thereverse may be used as a brake if desired, which is im ossible with aslide gear system, thus 0 viating the necessity of carrying a second oremer ency brake as is customary with such vehic es.

Another feature of my invention is that the mechanism is so arrangedthat by the continuous movement of one lever, the forward operating gearmay be disconnected and the reverse gear brought into operation withoutfear of damaging the gears or mechanism, which result cannot be obtainedby the use of the slide gear system.

It will be observed that the mechanism is so simplified as to obviatethe necessit of employing a skilled attendant to success ully operatethe vehicle, the arrangement of'the levers being such that no movementof the same under any conditions can damage the operating parts.

The invention consists of other novel features and arts and combinationsof the same as will be fully described hereinafter and then pointed outin the appended claims.

A practical embodiment of the invention is represented in'theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,- in whichsimilar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all theviews.

In the drawings: Figure 1is a sectional view through the gear casing anda portion of the mechanism therein contained. Fig. 2 shows the handoperating lever andfoot operatin leverand their connection to the camsha t and clutch through the s ring operatin fork. Fig. 3is an enlargesec: tlonal view of one of the. clutches and the relative position ofthe pivoted spring fork and actuating cam. Fig. 4'IS a new showing therelative positions of two of the adjacent clutch disks. Fig.5-illustrates a portion of one of the disks as having its edge out so asto form sprmgfingers to hold the disks apart. Fig. 6-is an edge view ofthe same showing the fingers as raised from theface ofthe disk. Fig. 71S.fl'

perspective view in detail showing one of the cam arms. Fi 8shows one ofthe cam portions in section and in engagement with a roller held in thespring fork. Fig. 9is a top view of the planetary gear frame. Fig. 10-is a side elevation of this frameseotioned (large number may e employedin a small casing are hushed earings for the reception roller 26 on itsindividual fork whenever it fork.

- or drivingshaft 13 in the manner illustrated in Fig. 3. This ring issplined at intervals on line 1010 of Fig. 9, with an inner clutch rinconnected thereto.

1%eferring to the drawings at 10 is the ear casin which also inclosesthe other mec anism t at requires more particularl to be protected fromdust and e supphe with considerable lubrication. At 11 and 12 in this ofthe driving shaft 13, and at 14.14 are andther set of similar bearin sfor the counter or gear driven shaft 15. T is shaft may be connected todrive the road wheels (not shown) either through sprockets and chains,gears, or any other convenient or suitable power transmittin means. Thecam shaft 16 also receives its earings at 1717 in this casing. Pivotedin the casin at 18- 18 to one side of this cam shaft are t e springforks 19, 20, 21 and 22. T ese forks are provided with two com arativ 1long resilient fingers or tines whic straddle the cam shaft and extendfrom their ivoting point 18 down to the center of the riving shaft 13,the lower ends being provided with holes 232 3 (see Fig. 3), 0r thereception of the pins 24 extending utward from the friction washer 25against which these lower ends rest.

A little contact roll 26 is supported in bearings 27 and secured byriveting or other convenient means to the tines of each of the springforks, as illustrated in Fig. 8. Mounted on and fixed to the cam shaftand in position so that they may be made to engage these contact rolls26 are the cam arms 28, 29, 30 and '31, To the lower ends of each ofthese arms is secured a hardened cam portion 32 the same being arrangedto' engage the is desired to set the clutch engaged by that In theconstruction of my improved device I have preferably used an 'ada tationof what is commonly known as the isk clutch whichis illustrated in thedrawings. These clutches are ordinarily made with an outer casin orclutch ring 83, which may be fixed or he d against rotation or keyed tothe crank on its internal face as at 3434 for the redeption of the fixedoutwardly extending keys 35 in eve alternate disk 36.

A broa faced rim or inner clutch ring 37 is shown this figure as beingconnected throu h e sleeve 38 to the gean39 and is provi ed on itsperiphery with a correspon dmg number of splines or key-ways 40 for thereception of the inwardly I0]60ti11gk6 s 41-41 of every alternate disThese dis 8 may be made of very thin material so that a.

space, and the outer edge 0 each disk may be cut as at 43 (see Fig. 5),and have once!- more 1i s raised from its face, as illustrated whichwill automatically separate the disks after the faces have been broughtinto contact. These disks are pressed together by l the fork through themedium of the plate 42 which extends up through recesses in the rim 37to engage said disks said plate bein returned or carried back by thetension 0 the springs 45 on the pins 46. a

In the arrangement shown the outer clutch rin 47 is keyed to the drivinshaft at 47 sai ring being arranged in a ouble form to enga e either theclutch portion 48 or the elutc portion 49, as desired. The clutchportion 48 is connected through the sleeve 50 to the gear 51 which gearin turn is connected to the counter' shaft 15 through the large gear 52,and the clutch portion 49 is connected throu h the sleeve 53 to the gear54 and also to t 1e gear 55, said car 54 being connected to the countersha t through its gear 54. v

In working on the low speeds and reversing mechanism the outer brake rin56 of the slow speed is fixed to the casing, an the inner brake ring 57is connected to the planetary gear system through the frame 58 (see Fig.10). The outer ring 59 of the reverse brake is also held in a fixedposition to the casing, and the inner ring 60 is connected to the gear61 through the sleeve 62. In this planetary system of gearing aframehaving two ends 58 and 68 may be constructed simllar to that illustratedin Figs. 9 and 16, whereb two or 'more sets of gears of diiferentrelative sizes 62, 63 and 64 are all connected together and mounted onthe shafts 6,565, said frame being held togetherby the tie members66-66, the gear 62 meshing with the gear 61, 64 with 55, while 63 mesheswith the gear 69, which latter gear is ke .ed to the driving shaft 13."The-cam sha t 16 in this casing may be 0 stated by the hand lever 76,as illustrated in Fig.2, through the connecting rod 71 and arm 72. The nper end of this lever is arranged to engage t e notches in the retainingplate 73, the notch marked with a -0' denoting the neutral osition, Rthe reverse, "1 the first s as 2 the second speed, and 3 the ighestspeed. The lower end of this hand lever is pivoted at 74 to the arm 75which arm is mounted on the rotatable shaft 76'to, the outer end ofwhich is connected the foot operating lever 77. This lever is held up inits normal position against the stop 78 y means-of thetension s rin 79.It will he 5 en by this construc- 31011 t at the cam she may be operatedby oot as well as by hand as a res'sure on the foot lever will carryforward t e lower or piv- Qt point of the hand lever thereby rotatingrile cam shaft to obtain the desired speed. e o eration of my improvedtransmitt' mec anism may be more full described as ollows: -In startingthe'car forward the at 44 in ig. 6, thereby formirigs'pring fingersfirst notch thereby rotating the cam shaft 16 and bringing the cam 30into engagement with the contact wheel 26 on the fork 21 causing itsbrake to be set, brake ring 57 and the gear frame 5868 being heldagainst rotation whereby the counter shaft 15 is caused to be rotated ata slow speed through the gear 69, planetary gears 63, 64 and 55, gears54 and 54. When it is desired to run under the second-or next higherspeed the can] shaft is further rotated by moving the lever into notch2, thus releasing the ring 57 and bringing the cam arm 28 into contactwith the spring fork 19, thus connecting clutch ring 48 to clutch ring47, whereby the counter shaft is driven at a correspondingly increasedspeed through the ears 51 and 52. To run under the third or iighestspeed the lever is carried into the notch 3 releasing clutch ring 48 andconnecting clutch ring 49 to the opposite side of ring 47 which drivesthe counter shaft 15 at a much higher speed through the gears 54 and 54.a

To reverse the mechanism and run the vehicle in the opposite directionthe lever is carried to the R or reverse position, thereby operating camarm 31 and fork 22 to set the brake and retain the inner ring 60 whichholds the gear 61 against rotation through its connecting sleeve 62 Theaction then through the planetary gears 69, 63, 62 and 61 causes theframe 58 to rotate and drives the counter shaft 15 at a slow speedbackwards in a reverse direction through the gears 64, 55, 54 and 54".It will be seen by this construction that this operating lever may bemoved from the reverse to the extreme forward or high speed position,and vice versa, without fear of harming the mechanism, as each engagingelement will be actuated momentarily, but owing to the film of oilbetween the disks they will not be brought into frictional contact asthe lever is carriedalong.

My improved transmission mechanism is extremely simple in construction,effective in its operation and reduces to a minimum the possibility ofdamage to the parts resulting from inexperienced or careless o craters.

My invention is not I'QStliGt6( to the precise construction andarrangement of parts hereinshown and described nor to the variousdetails thereof, as the same may be modified or re-arranged in variousparticulars without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention,one practical embodimentg of which has been herein illustrated and(leseribed Without attem ting to show all of the various forms andIII()( ifieations in which my invention might be embodied.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent. is:

1. An improved transmission mechanism comprising a driving shaft, ainion keyed to said shaft, a second pinion at jacent the first pinionand free to rotate on said shaft, a drivenshaft geared with the latterinion, planetary gearing surrounding said triving shaft and formed ofelongated gears engaging both of said pinions, and means for preventingplanetary movement of said planetary gears, whereby the driven shaftwill be rotated in a forward direction.

2. An improved transmission mechanism comprising a driving shaft, ainion keyed to said shaft, a second pinion a jacent the first pinion andfree to rotate on said shaft, a driven shaft geared with the latterpinion, a frame mounted to rotate on said driving shaft,planetarygearing mounted in said frame and formed of elongated gearsengaging both pinions, a brake having a stationary member and a movablemember, said movable member being connected to said frame, and means foroperating said brake.

3. An improved transmission mechanism comprising a driving shaft, adriven shaft spaced apart therefrom, a system of planetary gearingsurrounding said driving shaft, means for transmitting )ower from saidplanetary gearing to saitf driven shaft to drive the latter in eitherdirection, a brake controlling said planetary gear, and an oscil latingrain for operating said brake.

4. An improved transmission mechanism comprising a driving shaft, a(pinion keyed to said shaft, a second pinion a jacent the first pinionand free to rotate on said shaft, a driven shaft geared with the latterpinion, a frame mounted to rotate on said driving shaft, planetarygearing mounted in said frame and engaging both pinions, a brake havinga stationary member and a movable member, the latter being connected tosaid frame, a rock shaft, and a radially extended cam arm for operatingsaid brake.

5. A transmission mechanism com rising a casing, a driving shaft, adriven s aft, a system of planetary gearing mounted on and driven bysaid driving shaft, power transmitting means connecting said gearingwith said driven shaft, a frame in which a portion of said gearing ismounted, a brake, one member of which is ermanentlv held againstrotation, a secomf member of said brake being conneo ed to said frame, acam, a controlling lever, a resilient member intermediate said cam andsaid second brake member, and means whereby the movement of said leverwill cause said cam through said resilient member to set said brakemembers together -whereby said frame is held and a slow motion istransmitted through said gearing to said driven shaft.

6. A transmission mechanism comprising a driving shaft, a driven shaft,a s stem of planetary gearing driven from sai driving shaft andconnected to said driven shaft, a frame in which a portion of saidgearing is mounted, a friction brake, one member of which is heldagainst rotation, a second member of said brake being connected to saidframe, a resilient spring fork pivoted at one end and arranged tooperate said second brake member through its 0 posite end, a camarranged to actuate said oil: to connect said brake members and holdsaid frame, whereby said driven shaft is driven through said planetarygearing at a slow speed who 7. An improved transmission mechanismcomprising a driving shaft, a driven shaft spacedapart therefrom,gearing interposed between said shafts, a systemvof planetary gearingsurrounding said driving shaft, a rame in which a ortion of saidplanetary gearing is mounte a brake formed with a stationary member anda movable member, the latter being in engagement with one of the ears ofsaid planetary gearing, and an oscil ating cam arm for operating saidbrake.

8. A transmission mechanism comprising amlriving shaft, a driven shaft,a s stem of planetary gearing driven from sai driving shaft, one of thegears of said system being connected to said driven shaft, a brakehaving one member ermanently fixed, a second member of said rakeconnected to one of said gears of said system, a cam, a controllinglever, and a resilient member intermediate said cam and said secondbrake member.

9. A transmission mechanism comprising a driving shaft, a driven shaft,a s stem of planetary gearing driven from sai driving shaft, powertransmitting means connecting said gearing with said shaft, a frictionbrake, one member of which is held against rotation, a second member ofsaid brake connected to one of said gears of said system, a resilientspring fork pivoted at one end and arran ed to operate said second brakemom or through its 0 posite end, a cam arranged to actuate said ork toconnect said brake members to hold said gear, whereby a slow reversemotion through said planetary gearing is transmitted to said drivenshaft.

10. An improved-transmission mechanism comprising a driving shaft, adriven shaft, a plurality of sets of cars for different speedsconnecting said sh a system of planetary 1 1 gearing encircling thedriving shafighand adapted to drive one of said sets of co ecting gears,a plurality of clutches one controlling each set of connecting gears,and

means for independently operating said clutches, whereby power istransmitted to said driven shaft through but one set of connectinggears.

11. A transmission mechanism comprising a driving shaft, a driven shaft,ower transmission mechanism between sai shafts provided with means forvarying the speed ratio, frictional members controllinlgl said powertransmitting mechanism, osc' ating cams for operating said frictionalmembers, a hand lever for controllin said cams, and a foot lever alsoconnecte to control' said cams.

12.- A transmission mechanism comprising a driving shaft, a drivenshaft, ower transmission mechanism between sai shafts provided withmeans for varyin the speed ratio, frictional members controllin saidpower transmission mechanism, a mo shaft, radially arranged cam armsmounted on said shaft, a hand lever for rocking said rock shaft, and afoot lever also connected to oscillate said rock shaft.

13. In a transmission mechanism, a driving shaft, a plurality offrictional members mounted on said shaft, a cam shaft, a cam foroperating each frictional member mounted on said shaft, 0.counter-shaft, power transmitting means between said frictional membersand said counter-shaft through which the s eed ratio of the latter maybe varied, a ban operated lever for moving said cams through their shaftto engage one clutch at a time to cha e the speed ratio ofthecountershaft, and a cot operated lever connected to the pivoted end 0said hand lever whereby said frictional members may also be operated bythe movement of the foot.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' HENRY CAVE.

Witnesses:

Howann E. BARLOW, E. I. OGDEN;

